World briefs

Published
6:30 am CST, Friday, January 30, 2004

5 Dominicans killed in economic protests

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic -- At least four protesters died Thursday from gunshot wounds suffered in clashes with security forces on the second day of a national strike that shut down business across the Dominican Republic. Strike officials also said organizer Jose Vasquez Castro was shot and killed by police, bringing Thursday's toll to five. The strike is a protest against the country's worst economic crisis in decades. President Hipolito Mejia said the 48-hour shutdown would cost $60 million.

Guatemalan arrested in tourist's death

GUATEMALA CITY -- Guatemalan police have arrested a 29-year-old Guatemalan in the killing of an American tourist during the robbery of a bus this month. Marvin Verganza Ruiz was arrested in the town of Morales, Izabal, about 90 miles northeast of Guatemala City. Brett Richards, a 52-year-old architect from Ogden, Utah, was shot in the chest and died on the way to a hospital Jan. 7.

Yemen holds suspect tied to terror camp

SAN`A, Yemen -- The last member of a group of Yemeni-Americans from New York state sought by U.S. authorities and accused of attending an al-Qaida training camp is in custody in Yemen, a senior security official said Thursday. Jaber Elbaneh was arrested several months ago as part of Yemen's fight against terrorism, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The New York Times said negotiations were under way for extradition.

Peace Prize winner criticizes hard-liners

TEHRAN, Iran -- Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi condemned the mass disqualification of liberal candidates in Iran's elections, calling it a denial of basic rights. Echoing Ebadi's remarks, Iran's interior minister demanded Thursday that the elections be postponed since they would not otherwise be free. The hard-line Guardian Council has disqualified more than a third of the 8,200 candidates who filed papers to run in the Feb. 20 legislative elections.

Nations take steps to cut bird flu risk

BANGKOK, Thailand -- Asian countries that have so far escaped the bird flu spreading across the continent stepped up measures Thursday to keep the virus outside their borders. Hong Kong isolated a woman who returned from Vietnam with suspicious pneumonia symptoms. Singapore intensified a campaign to slaughter scavenger crows considered potential spreaders of the disease. Indonesia ordered all chickens in affected areas killed, reversing its earlier insistence that a wholesale slaughter was not necessary.

Warlords, clan chiefs work on peace deal

NAIROBI, Kenya -- An array of Somali warlords and clan leaders struck a deal Thursday that could lay the groundwork for the country's first national government since 1991. Previous peace deals have quickly collapsed, however, and Western diplomats cautioned that continued clan violence could doom this accord as well. But the pact is widely regarded as more credible than earlier efforts.

Congolese forced out of diamond zones

KINSHASA, Congo -- Angolan troops and police have driven at least 10,000 Congolese from northern Angola's diamond zones in a bloody month-old campaign, Congolese officials and witnesses said Thursday. The alleged crackdown comes amid growing complaints from Angola that Congolese and other foreigners are plundering its diamond fields -- one of the world's largest sources of diamonds.